HAVE THE RECENT ECONOMIC CHANGES made you rethink your 10 yr. plan?

[lorihadams]

POLKA works too!....used to do it at the restaurant I worked at when we closed and still had people hanging around that we wanted to leave (2am). We would get the satellite radio out and hook up the speakers in the restaurant to the all night polka station and I swear, in 10 minutes people would clear out and then we could all go home!!!

 

[freemotion]

 

[Mackay]

Our 10 year plan was really our retirement plan. We started building and got the garage done with a studio upstairs nearly completed. Then the SHTF and we will likely not get anything near what we though we would get for our house in a sale which was suppose to fund the building of the new house.

So now Im wondering if we will be spending our last 30 years up above the garage in a studio, 500 sf. My husband got mad at me when I insisted that it should have a full bath. We had an argument. Glad I won that one now!!

At one point in my life I spent time in a tepee. Guess I should be grateful for 500 sf.

But on the up side we will have 8 acres, water rights, a good size workshop and basic utilites, well, etc. This summer we will start preparing soil for the garden, do some fencing and finish the interior. Only 500 sf but spectacular view of gods country! We can survive there, at least till we are too old to do the stairs!

 

[me&thegals]

I'm really touched by everyone's gracious acceptance of "life." It looks like most of us are having to adjust in some way or other and really just trying to do our best.

I feel really fortunate during this crisis. We're 30+ years away from retirement, so my 401-K and retirement plan has a lot more time to recover. My husband and I are in jobs that haven't been touched yet--healthcare and farming. We remortgaged (same length, lower rate), so we have a little bit lower payment. Our car has been paid off since 1999. Our kids become less expensive as time goes on (except food). We have been living fairly frugally all our lives. Our luxuries are really very small and inexpensive--an occasional meal out, good food, camping trips.

So, I guess this economic downturn has just really made me glad for all the ways we began living this way years and years ago. It's just shining a spotlight on the importance of living within or under your means, being as SS as possible and frugal.

Our plans won't change. We have a house and land mortgage. That is the same, only a bit cheaper. Some day, if our kids go to college, we will help them a bit. Mainly, I'm making sure our families know that we will help them in any way they need it. They have jobs that are starting to look a bit shaky. I'm trying to give away more eggs and will make sure to have more than enough in the garden next year. Any extra $ we have is going back into things that can help us long term: Bat houses for pest control, hopefully a couple hives, really good gardening tools, etc.

 

[Big Daddy]

that can help us long term: Bat houses for pest control, hopefully a couple hives, really good gardening tools, etc.

If you haven't done so already, you should google bat houses. We bought a bat house at Pet Smart. We mounted it about 18 ft up. This was about 3 years ago. No bats yet. I went to a web site on it and they say the house has to be signifigantly larger than it is.

 

[me&thegals]

Here's a link to TEG thread on this: http://www.theeasygarden.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=219466#p219466

I followed the plans by someone who already has one up, so hopefully I'm okay for size. They are really pretty huge. Crossing my fingers...

 

[sylvie]

I bought a bat box from our Soil and Water's annual tree seedling sale 6 years ago. No bats in the house yet.
Last year I found a pair flying around in my great room one night at about 2 am. I opened all the french doors to let them out. I have no idea how they got in but our ceiling is peaked at 26'. I may raise the bat house up if they liked the 26' height.

 

[Big Daddy]

Thanks me&thegals

I printed that off. It is a lot larger than the one I bought. The website I was at before was just selling their houses and they were around 90.00 plus shipping. They made it sound like it had to be exact spacing and stuff or the bats wouldn't live in it.

So thank you and thanks to themetalpeddler too.